


One Serving Coming Right Up

by chockie



Category: Persona 4
Genre: Christmas Eve, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 09:34:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,503
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11460846
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/chockie/pseuds/chockie
Summary: Two dudes that just happened to both be alone on Christmas Eve.





	One Serving Coming Right Up

“ _Fuck_  whoever came up with this. This is just sadistic, is what it is.” Yosuke’s head lolled from rest on his palm down his arm, and onto the glass covered counter. He watched his breath create a pool of fog then held his breath, waiting for it to dissipate. “…Not that I celebrate Christmas, anyway.”

“Also, Junesbucks is a stupid name, and slapping ‘Junes’ on the front doesn’t make your thievery any less obvious,” he said aloud, the volume amped up a little in case someone, anyone, especially whoever came up with the idea in the first place, might hear him. It was not his first time working at a restaurant, but the restaurants he had worked at previously at least had the dignity not to be a blatant ripoff of an existing store and instead remained under the Junes name. Nor was it the first time he had been forced into working a late night shift on a public holiday. 

 _At least it’s an excuse for why I haven’t got any ‘plans’ on Christmas Eve,_ he thought wryly.  _There. That’s what I’m thankful for._

Closing his eyes, he tuned out the stupid Christmas jingle looping through the tinny speakers in the new café, and listened hard. Listened for the snow, the blizzard slamming against the store window, concealing anything that might resemble a person who might potentially be a customer, and make this night just a little more interesting. He listened, straining his ears, and he could  _just_  make out the whooshing gales carrying snow every which way on invisible currents. Perhaps if he listened hard enough, he could hear people at their stupid Christmas parties, drinking and  _having fun_. He grimaced. 

Perhaps if he listened hard enough, he could hear the many couples getting their game on, in their cozy little rooms,  _not_  working the night shift at a stupid ripoff café– 

_Yosuke’s new year’s resolution number 1: Get a girlfriend. Fuck. Not the verb, that was just an exclamation. But also maybe the verb? God damn it. I’m so lonely._

The boy sighed. Hopeless. 17 year old virgin. No past history of girlfriend. ‘Friendly’, but no friends. The last kiss he had received was from his mother- several years ago, when he was still a child, cute and kissable. “Even my own mother isn’t interested in me,” he groaned. “Why even live–?”

His wallowing was loudly interrupted by the jingle signifying the entrance of a new customer. Lazily, Yosuke pulled himself off the counter and dragged himself to a stand, flattening his green apron. Probably some hobo seeking shelter from the unrelenting, classic Inaba weather. Lonely like him, too. 

“Hi, welcome to Junesbucks,” he drawled, dripping with the impeccable boredom teenagers possessed. “May I take your order–” 

His eyes finally made contact with the customer’s grey- A man.

“…Sir?” 

He was definitely a gentleman, though upon a closer inspection, he was no older than Yosuke was. Refined, despite the tousled hair with snow dotted in spots, despite the slightly unzipped track jacket, despite the light sheen of melted snowflakes and sweat on his face. He held his scarf, wrapped neatly in a small bundle, close to his chest, and stepped forward. 

“Yes, please. A mocha latte, if that’s all right.” His voice, smooth and warm, like caramel, matched his look. 

“Y-yes. I mean, yeah, that’s definitely all right- like, it’s on the menu, so- I mean, well, yeah. It’s all right. Feel free to sit anywhere you want.” 

Yosuke swallowed. His customer service, usually on point thanks to years of practice, seemed to be faltering for this gentleman- this guy. This guy. With the bowlcut.  _Yeah, I mean he looked all badass and cool when he walked in, but he actually has a freaking bowlcut. A bowlcut! Either his barber held a grudge against him, or he’s just a dweeb._

He felt a little better. A little less intimidated. A little more ready to stop staring and actually get to making some coffee, he reminded himself. Reluctantly turning away from the customer, who was still standing in the middle of the café clutching his scarf, Yosuke busied himself making the coffee. He took extra care pouring it out, the perfect creamy amount of milk and frothing it a little, laying the espresso not too thin, or too thick, but just right– and a perfect  _caffè mocha_ was produced with a flourish, served neatly on a saucer with a small spoon. With trembling hands-  _cool your nerves, dude, he’s just some guy and you’re serving some awesome coffee-_ he took the steaming cup and turned back, his eyes searching for the mysterious gentleman-dude. Gentledude. 

He had taken a seat at a table for two by the window, his gloved hands immaculately resting on immaculately crossed legs. His strange, grey eyes seemed to be watching the snow storm relentlessly outside. The snow in his grey hair had melted, leaving it somewhat damp but with an attractive and healthy sheen.  _It’s the grey hair,_  Yosuke thought,  _that’s what’s throwing me off about this guy_. 

“Here’s your mocha latte, sir.” It felt odd to be calling a guy about his own age ‘sir’, but it also felt strangely appropriate. Maybe because the guy wasn’t just any dude, but a gentledude. 

“Thank you, uh…” The gentledude squinted at Yosuke. Yosuke suddenly felt extremely self conscious. “Hanamura-san. Thank you for the coffee.”

Oh.He had been looking at his name tag. 

“It was, uh, my pleasure. And you can call me Yosuke. Is there anything else I can do for you…?”

“It’s Seta. Souji Seta. And no, I think I’m good for now. Thank you.” 

_I wasn’t really asking for your name, but… Souji, huh?_

He felt guilty using the gentledude’s first name, even though it was only in the confines of his own mind. It didn’t sit right. 

For a moment, he stood awkwardly there at the table, watching the gentledude- Souji-  _Seta-san_  take a sip from the cup slowly and delicately. Swallowing, Seta-san took a deep breath with closed eyes, and exhaled. His grey eyes opened again, and they were on Yosuke. The gentledude raised an eyebrow. 

“What’s wrong, Yosuke?” he asked. 

Even though he had explained it was okay to use his first name, it was still a huge jolt. He woke up from his daze, shaking his head a little and letting his too-long hair whip about a little. He needed to get it cut if he wanted to look presentable like this gentledude. 

“Wha- Huh? Oh, sorry, I was just… spacing out. Sorry. I’ll get back to my spot-” 

“Don’t worry about it. You’re kind of cute, so I wouldn’t mind if you took a seat here.” Seta-san said without blinking an eye.

“I’m- I’m kinda  _what_? Pardon?”

“I said I wouldn’t mind if you sat down. There’s nobody else around, and I just came in from outside- nobody else is on the streets either. So please, do take a seat.” 

He gestured at the free seat across him. 

“I- You- Are you sure?” 

“Oh, definitely. Really, it’s no problem.”

“If you insist, Seta-san… But I really think I should, uh, stay at the counter in case anybody comes in, I mean, I’m the only one on duty right now and like-”

“Please, there’s no need for formalities. Just Souji is all right.” 

“U-uh, okay, Souji, but–”

“So, what are you doing on Christmas Eve working at a poorly disguised rip-off of Starbucks by yourself?” 

 _Ouch. He hit the nail right on the head and didn’t miss a spot._  

“Well, I guess I didn’t really have any plans… And my dad, he’s like, the manager of Junes here, so he pretty much dumped me here while he goes out with my mom. Haha. It sucks.”

“I’m sorry to hear that.” 

“Yeah. And like, I had some new games I wanted to play, but nah. Parents, right?”

“I was talking more about not having any plans on Christmas Eve. But yes, parents.”  _Jesus Christ, this guy does not let up. What is his problem?_

“Y-yeah, well… how about you? You’re here in some stupid coffee shop, and it’s like,” he glanced back at the wall clock above the counter, “-a few hours until Christmas. Someone like you…”

Some attractive, refined gentledude like you.

“…Someone like you should have a pretty little girlfriend to hang out with. You should be with her right now, dude.” 

Yosuke sighed, and glanced sideways. The weird gentledude would soon realize his mistake and leave, probably kiss or whatever with his pretty girlfriend and Yosuke would just sit here in Junesbucks waiting until he could go home and play video games. It was just a matter of waiting for Souji to get up and go. 

Seconds passed, in silence.  _Why hasn’t he gone yet?_  Yosuke hissed to himself silently. 

Finally, he looked back up. He found Souji’s grey eyes staring intently at him. 

“I don’t have a girlfriend.” Souji said, clearly. 

“Wow… Really?” Yosuke stared in wonder. 

“’Wow, really?’” Souji echoed. “What is that supposed to mean?” He chuckled. 

“W-well, I dunno, you just seem like that type who always has some girl clinging to him, you know?” 

“I’m not really into girls, to be honest.” 

Yosuke froze. His hear stopped. This guy was  _gay_ …? Sure, he was smooth and handsome and well kept, but…

 _Oh_ , he must have meant it as in he wasn’t really into the dating scene. In general. Yes. 

“Hahaha, I can see why. Girls are just loads of hassle!” As if he knew what he was talking about. He still wanted to appear as if he did, though. Not that he was trying to impress Souji, or anything. Souji was just some random customer in his shop. 

“Mm.” Souji sipped from his cup again. “Yes, guys are great.”

“Haha, yeah. Wait, what?”

“So, tell me more about yourself, Yosuke.” 

“Uh, I guess I’m actually from the city. But my family moved here, since my dad got the whole Junes manager thing. It kinda sucks, ‘cause this place is totally the sticks. Like, straight up the middle of nowhere. There’s nothing to do here. None of my friends really try to keep in contact either. Probably because of the distance? I dunno. But I’m just bored all the time.”  _Fuck, rambling. Stop rambling._  “Guess I’m actually thankful for school and work like this job to give me something to actually do, huh?” Yosuke tried a smile.

Souji smiled back. “Yes. I mean, we got to meet because of your job. That’s good.”

“Oh. Yeah, it is. Neat. Heheh.” Yosuke’s eyes darted around nervously. His mouth hung open a little, searching for something to say. 

“How about you? Where did you come from?”

“Hmm,” Souji sipped on his coffee again. “You could say that I’m also from the city. My family has to move very often because of my parents’ jobs.” 

“…I see.”  _Another guy from the city, huh? Maybe we do have something in common._

 _“_ The last place I left was Shibuya. But I don’t really consider any one place my hometown. I don’t ever remember having settled in any place for longer than a year or two, even when I was little.” 

“That must be really tough for you. Man, and to think I’m struggling with keeping up with my friends back there. Must be hellish for you trying to keep up with all your friends! Haha.” 

“I don’t really have that many,” Souji said, a little quietly. 

“…Oh. Well, if it’s any consolation, we can be friends?” 

“…Sure.” He smiled. It was a little different from the few he had shown earlier, and it was small, but it was definitely there. Yosuke offered a small smile back. Souji sipped from the coffee cup again. 

“You’re sure taking your time with that coffee, huh? Is it that good?” the barista joked. 

“I’m taking my time because I can. And yes, it is very good. Well done,” Souji nodded approvingly, behind another sip from the cup. 

“You know, I think I might fix up a cup of my own and join you here–” 

“Oh, don’t bother. I’ve almost finished it.”

“Oh.” Despite himself, Yosuke felt crushingly disappointed. He stood up, flattening his apron with his palms. “Well, I’ll leave you to it. It was nice meeting you, sir.”

“’Souji’, please.” The gentledude took a final sip, tipping it so it would empty out. 

“And, Yosuke, wait.” 

Yosuke turned back around to face this intriguing character.  _He’s probably just going to say “it was nice to meet you too,” and that’ll be the end of it._

_We’ll never see each other again._

“What time does your shift end? Most coffee shops close.”

“…My shift? Uh,” he looked back. A half hour had passed in the time since Souji had first entered the store. “Five minutes ago, actually. Why?”

“I’m sorry I kept you from going home. You have video games to get to, yes?”

Something nagged at Yosuke, as he pulled the apron over his head and hung it up. 

“They’re not really anything… urgent, I guess. Why?”

“Well, the snow outside has settled down. Would you like to go for a walk and continue our conversation?”

“Sure. Souji.” Yosuke felt awkward. But he felt a little excited, too.

“Yes?” Souji looked up from his seat, across the room at Yosuke. 

“Oh, I wasn’t calling your name or anything. Just… trying it out, I guess. We did just meet, and all.”

“I see.” He draped the scarf around his neck and stood from his chair. “Shall we leave?” 

“Oh, uh, I just need to switch off the lights and stuff. Gimme a sec.” 

“I understand. I can wait outside.” He pushed his chair in carefully, and strode towards the exit. Yosuke let his eyes linger on his back, before he turned to flick the light switches and grabbed his jacket. Quickly, he stepped outside. He didn’t want to keep Souji waiting. 

“Hey,” Yosuke said, rubbing his hands together the moment he exited the warm shop and stepped outside. “Fuck, it’s so cold.” 

“I’m sorry about that.” Souji’s head lifted, from its downcast position. 

“Nah, don’t worry. I’ll warm up eventually.” Yosuke grinned, and shoved his hands into the pockets of his jacket. “So, where are we going?” 

“I don’t know. Somewhere.” Souji began to walk forward. Yosuke followed.  _What does this mysterious guy have in store?_  he wondered. 

There was not much to see in Yasoinaba. If he had to name an interesting part of it, Yosuke supposed, it would probably be the town’s culture festivals. But that was it, really. There just isn’t much essence to Inaba as a town. It was the single, most boring place in the entirety of Japan, probably. Strange that an interesting guy like Souji would come here. 

“Actually, yeah, so I have a question.” 

“Yes?” 

“Did your parents seriously move to  _Inaba_ , of all places? Like, what kind of job makes you move to the boonies like this?”

“I actually have family here. My parents are overseas, so they sent me here.”

“Huh. Any cute sisters?” Yosuke winked. He knew he had no shame, but he did not much care anymore. 

“I have a little cousin. That’s all.” 

“How little is ‘little’, hmmm?” 

“Too young for you.” Souji looked ahead. “I’m tired, can we sit down somewhere?” 

“Uh, sure. There’s a bench a little ways up ahead.”

“Okay.”

Yosuke felt awkward again. It seemed like the entire night had been him feeling terribly awkward until Souji broke the tension, but this time it seemed he had upset him. 

They walked in silence, side by side, leaving two pairs of tracks in the snow covered path. Occasionally, Yosuke’s footsteps would match Souji’s, but they quickly fell out of step again. After what felt like much too long, they reached the bench. It was covered in snow.

“Uh…” Yosuke stared. Souji had sat in the middle of the two centimeter thick snow covering on the bench. 

“What?” Souji stared back. 

“I can brush it off…?” Yosuke offered. “Just… stand up for a sec, dude.”

Wordlessly, he did.  _Is he still mad? It was just a joke… I guess I should apologize._

Quickly, he swept the snow off the bench. “Look, Souji, I’m sorry about earlier. I was just making a joke, and I guess I went too far.” 

“It’s quite all right,” Souji sat back down, in the same spot, now free of snow. “Is your hand cold? You just swept off snow.” 

“Oh, yeah. It’s fine. Thanks for asking.” The boy joined him on the bench and shoved his hand back into its pocket. “So, like. We’re here now. At the bench. You can, uh, rest I guess.”

“Hmm. It’s still snowing, albeit much more lightly than it was earlier.” 

“So it is,” Yosuke agreed, looking up at the flakes falling in the sky. “So, uh, what do you do for fun around here? I feel like you’ve got your stuff in order, so maybe I could take some tips from ya. Haha.”

“I fold origami.” 

“W-wow.”  _Oh God, he’s a dweeb. I knew it._ “Like, paper cranes? That’s, uh, that’s cool.”

“Yes, like paper cranes. I brought some paper with me, actually. Would you like to try?” He took one out from his coat pocket, offering a small and thin-looking patterned sheet in the palm of his black gloved hand. 

“I’m good, thanks.” Yosuke leaned back and relaxed, his arms folded. “You can fold it now if you want, though, I guess.” 

“Okay.” 

They sat in silence again, but this time a companionable silence, save for Souji’s quiet folding. 

“Here. I made it.”

It was a tiny paper crane, no bigger than an inch or so, sitting delicately in Souji’s palm. Again, his palm was offered to Yosuke, this time with the finished product. 

“Would you like to take it as a gift?” 

“What? Me? Are you sure? You worked pretty hard on it, right?”

“It’s fine. I have almost a thousand at home.” 

Yosuke searched for a hint of a joke on his face. There was none. 

Nervously, but carefully, he took the crane between finger and thumb and held it in his own palm. “It’s… cute. Thank you, Souji.”

“It was my pleasure, Yosuke.” 

They looked out. Surprisingly, they had walked uphill to a place with a pretty nice view, overlooking the rest of the town. The snow kept falling, gently dusting the furry lining of the hood of Yosuke’s jacket. For some reason, his heart thumped. He realized, for the first time, how close they were sitting together. So close, he could see the little puffs of fog Souji’s breath made in the chilly air, melting snowflakes as they fell. He took a deep breath. Something, anything to break the silence. 

“…I hated this place when I first came to Inaba. You can tell how small the town is from up here. I think you’re the first person I’ve really hit it off with at all. Maybe, like, even the only memorable thing about this place. So… thanks. It’s been really good to meet you. I hope we stay good friends for a long while yet.”

“You’re talking as if we are parting ways. Do you have to leave?”

“What? No, no, I’m just… grateful. You’ve been really cool.”

“I’m grateful too.” 

They continued to watch the snow fall over Inaba, coating everything in a light white. 

“I think it must be midnight, soon. Christmas day. Big deal, huh?” Yosuke pulled his left hand out, looking for a watch, then dropping it to his side when he remembered he did not have a watch. “Do you have the time?”

Souji’s right arm raised itself, the other hand pushing the sleeve of the jacket back to reveal a polished Rolex. 

“Yes. It’s about three minutes to midnight.” 

“Heh. That kinda sounds like one of the albums I like. ‘Minutes to Midnight’.”

“Interesting.” 

“Heh… Yeah, I guess.” 

Souji pulled the sleeve back into place, and let the hand fall loose.

Yosuke felt a tingle in his fingers. He didn’t know if it was just the cold, or if it was something else. They itched a little, so he moved them. Just to stretch them out, or something. 

Suddenly, something brushed against it. He stiffened immediately, and his eyes darted down to his hand- what if it was a spider or something, shit? 

Oh. It was Souji’s hand. 

His eyes went back to looking straight ahead.

This time, he was afraid to look back down. He swallowed.

His face felt a little too hot for such cold weather.

He felt the presence next to him- Souji- become a little bigger, a little closer, and something was flaring up inside him, warm and big and firey. 

Suddenly, again, something brushed his side. 

This time, it wasn’t a finger. It was Souji himself. His silver head- more silver in the moonlight- dropped onto Yosuke’s shoulder neatly. He was sound asleep. 


End file.
